


Appendicitis

by bottledyarn



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Appendicitis, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-25
Updated: 2011-05-25
Packaged: 2017-11-19 11:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/572706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bottledyarn/pseuds/bottledyarn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam gets appendicitis and gets sick during a concert.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Appendicitis

**Author's Note:**

> Originally by request on my tumblr.

None of them had realized that anything was wrong until Liam suddenly collapsed to the stage in the middle of the concert, landing on his hands and knees. They all kind of stared at him, letting their microphones fall to their sides, until he started vomiting. They started moving then, running towards him to try and reach him before the backstage security did. They dragged him off stage, completely forgetting all of the fans in the audience. 

Liam was sweating profusely, his face red and blotchy from an obviously high fever. His chest heaved up and down, and he kept squeezing his eyes shut before opening them again quickly.

“Liam,” Harry said, kneeling next to him. “What happened?”

Liam said nothing, didn’t even react. Niall glanced worriedly at Zayn, who shook his head slightly, telling him he had no clue.

The security people scooped Liam up, carrying him out into the hall. A few executive-types were running around on phones, trying to coordinate emergency services for Liam.

The boys chased after the quick security team, trying to keep Liam in sight. They weren’t allowed in the ambulance with him, but they were driven behind the ambulance to the nearest hospital.

The instant the car stopped (or, more realistically, slowed down enough for them to leap out) they jumped out, running out of the parking garage for the hospital. The driver shouted after them, but gave up when they disappeared into a stairwell.

By the time they finally got into the right part of the hospital, the room they were told to go to was completely empty. A nurse happened to walk in as they were standing there, glancing around.

“Are you looking forMr.Payne?” he asked, setting down a clipboard. “He’s just been taken in for emergency surgery.”

“What?” Niall exclaimed. “For what?”

The nurse picked up the clipboard again, pulling back the top sheet and reading. “A ruptured appendix, apparently.”

“But you’re supposed to feel appendicitis days before it ruptures,” Louis said. “He would have said something.”

The nurse shrugged. “Sometimes it’s less painful until the actual event, and sometimes people just don’t say anything.”

“Is the surgery dangerous?” Zayn asked.

“It’s a bit more dangerous because the appendix is already ruptured, but he should be fine after recovery and after the infection is cleared.”

Niall let out a breath and sat down, pressing his hands together. “How long?” he asked.

“It all depends on the circumstances,” the nurse said. “Anywhere from an hour to three or four.”

“Thank you,” Harry said, nodding at the nurse.

The nurse smiled. “Are any of you officially allowed to fill outMr.Payne’s information? He wasn’t able to.”

Niall stood up, taking the clipboard. “Yeah.”

“Excellent, just take that to the front desk after.”

He left, leaving the four of them to stare down at the clipboard, trying to find any more information about the surgery and condition.

Niall started filling it out, his handwriting completely awful due to the fact that his hands were shaking. Louis ended up taking it from him, writing down Niall’s answers to the questions.

“He’ll be okay,” Zayn said, touching Niall’s back.

It ended up taking two and a half hours- two and a half hours of impatient waiting during which they all sat silently, tapping their feet and staring at the clock.

Finally the same nurse came in and smiled. “Mr. Payne is in the Recovery room, if you’d like to see him. The doctors say all four of you can go in.”  
Niall leapt to his feet and followed the nurse to the room, rushing in and moving straight for the bed Liam was in. He looked terrible, his face pale and his hair pushed back. 

Niall held his hand, taking comfort in the steady pulse that matched the beeping of the EKG machine. The other boys stood around the bed, staring down at the unconscious boy.

“He’s fine,” Harry said in a breathy voice.

Louis grinned and nudged Harry with his elbow. “Nice observation.”

Harry hit him back and smiled. Niall glanced up at them, glad to see that the other boys had relaxed, gone back to normal.

He turned his gaze back to Liam, his eyes catching on the dark circles around Liam’s eyes. Had Liam been hiding his discomfort for days, hoping that he could avoid troubling them?

The other boys left after an hour- the doctors told them that Liam’s body was trying to fight off the infection (even though it didn’t need to, what with the loads of drugs being pumped into him) and that he might not wake up for a few hours. 

Niall stayed, though, still clutching Liam’s hand, a little ridiculous voice at the back of his head suggesting that Liam could be worse than they thought, that he wouldn’t wake up. Niall knew that he would, though, so he didn’t worry. He just waited.

When Liam’s eyes finally inched open, Niall took in a large breath, leaning closer towards Liam.

“Are you okay?” he asked immediately.

Liam struggled to focus on Niall’s face, but once he did, he smiled slightly.

“Yeah,” Liam said, his voice croaky. “I feel awful, but better.”

“Did you feel bad before the concert?” Niall asked, holding his hand tighter.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t that bad,” Liam said. “Well, I guess it was, but you know…”

Niall sighed and shook his head. “You should have said something.”  
Liam shrugged weakly, turning his head against his pillow. “I’m fine now.”

“You could have been a lot worse,” Niall said. “You’re lucky you have a big security team watching out for you.”

“And a Niall,” he said, reaching up with his free hand to pat the side of Niall’s face.

Niall smiled. “And a Niall.”

“What happened to the concert?” Liam asked.

“It wasn’t as important as you,” Niall said, rubbing his thumb along the back of Liam’s hand. “We ran out.”

“The fans must be freaking out,” Liam said. “I bet I’m a trending topic.”

“Don’t get too egotistic,” Niall said. “The trending topic’s probably about your vomit.”

Liam winced. “I threw up?”

“Yeah,” Niall said. “A lot.”

Liam sighed. “Good to know.”

“There’ll be videos.”

“Yeah, shut up,” Liam said, rolling his eyes and trying to shift into a slightly upright position. “I don’t need to be reminded.”

“Fair enough,” Niall said. “I won’t remind you about this as long as you get better and tell me the next time you don’t feel well.”

“Deal,” Liam said quietly, his eyes closing. 

Niall watched as Liam fell back asleep, and finally let go of his hand, standing up to leave. He glanced back at Liam one more time as he walked out. He’d never really thought about how much the other boys- especially Liam- meant to him, but this was a reminder that they meant everything.


End file.
